Thursday, April 8, 2010

The Old Mill

Well it seems as if the snowy winter is finally past us and Spring is in full swing. Leaves have all popped out on the trees, matching the flowery outbursts from dogwoods and Bradford pears. The view quickly changed from the quiet browns of winter into a riot of green – mostly thanks to the pollen which left everything around coated in a neon tinge. But some rain passed through yesterday, and I hoped it would be enough for a free car wash that would remove the pollen from my poor car (it wasn't). But the rain was enough to get creeks up and running, and it was cloudy enough outside for some good waterfalls somewhere.

So after work, I got the camera and drove out to the Old Mill in North Little Rock. There is a small waterfall there that I thought might have a good amount of water flowing through (there wasn’t). But the park has quite a few dogwoods and other flowering trees that might look nice.

When I got there, I headed by some of the dogwood trees just as three ducks flew overhead. One of them veered off course and plunked down in the water just in front of the mill.

The duck swam around some in the water and then went onto the rock wall that creates a small dam. Then it jumped down into the lake, which was a bit backed up against the rock wall. The water looked kinda gross – it had a layer of pollen that floated on the top like pond scum. It turned the water into a sickly shade of yellowish-green. The water looked radioactive (seriously, it looked the same color as the toxic waste the created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), but the duck didn’t seem to mind the color and dove right in. He hurried along, slicing through the pollen like one of those ice-breaker boats in the Arctic.

Aside from occasionally having water the color of hollandaise sauce, the Old Mill is a beautiful place. It’s one of my favorite places to visit, especially in the Spring. My grandparents used to live two blocks from the Old Mill, so I made frequent trips out there when I was growing up. One of my cousins even had her wedding here a few years back.

I walked across that bridge and was a bit shocked to see a large rainbow hanging in the sky over the Mill. I swung the camera around to try to get a shot in the minute or two before it faded away….

And one last shot of the Old Mill…

On the way home, the sun had come out and looked like it was going to take part in a pretty nifty sunset. I tried to get to a place that would have a neat view, and ended up stopping at this lake on the road heading to the Big Dam Bridge.

And a quick note to my dedicated readers (all 5 of you!), I'm going to be out of town all next week on a road trip. So there won't be anything new to share for awhile. But that reminds me, I should probably stop goofing off on the internet and start getting stuff packed for the trip....